Dog running

Well,today is the day that all of the guides begin working their dogs and running them into playing shape.Hunting dogs are just like human athletes.Conditioning is almost as important as training. During the hot summer months,our hunting dogs mostly just lay around in the kennel barking and eating free meals. They remind me a lot of our politicians in Washington. There is another interesting aspect of dog training at this time of the year.
 Moss assigns each guide 10 dogs. Those dogs are then placed together in adjacent kennel runs so that each guide can load his dogs on his jeep from five adjoining runs. Many of these dogs have not been living together during the summer, and we have to carefully monitor their behavior as some of them just flat decide that they do not like their new room mates.Our vet bill normally runs about $1200 per month,but it always jumps up in September due to dog fights at the kennels. Before the week is out, we will have shifted dogs around like a chess match, and the "top dog" in each run will have established his dominance.Another thing that we have to watch closely with our dogs at this time of the year is "sexual assaults". Again this reminds me a lot of some of the other athletes I read about. However, there is one big difference at Riverview with this problem. We simply take the offender to the vet and relieve him of his family jewels. Society could learn a lot by following this practice.If male dogs could talk to one another, I bet that we would not have to do this but once or twice before they all straightened up. I have often said that if I were a male dog, i would beg my owner not to sell me to Riverview.
 For the next two weeks, we will run all of the dogs for about two hours each morning, and will move up to a half day of work in the third week.We will also be shooting some birds over them with the guides acting as hunters. All of our guides love this time of the year, and there is always a lot of kidding at the guide shack over how poorly some "professional hunting guides" can actually shoot.
 Speaking of dogs, I just have to close this blog by saying that I sure was proud of my Georgia Bulldogs in their victory Saturday over a very good LSU football team. As we would say in Athens," that Dawg will bite you"!

Fall is in the air

In my last post, I mentioned that I could smell fall in the air. I couldn't put my finger on it,but there is just a sixth sense that country folks get when one lives close to the land. Well, I can FEEL fall today!My old Lab,Sugar,feels it also. She is  still pouting with me over the fact that I left her in the kennel on our first dove hunt a few weeks ago.I was only doing what was best for her on that hot day,but she is a female and does not need a very valid reason to pout. If this weather holds, I may have a chance to make it up to her.
 All of God's creatures feel the change in the air,especially the deer. Bow season opened here this past Saturday, and deer definitely are aware of that fact. I think that they get the publication of the seasons before us humans do. I read the other day that the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration stated that car/deer collisions total about one million per year.About 200 persons are killed and some 10,000 are injured in mishaps.Damage per vehicle averages $3000.West Virginia leads all states in car/deer collisions.I wonder if that means that West Virginia has more deer or if West Virginians are just poorer shots than the rest of us.
 Thank goodness quail are not a menace to society unless you count the times a man has to change his underwear after an explosion of wings from beneath his feet.

Rambling

Yesterday evening around sunset, Martha and I were sitting outside watching the sun go down on our beautiful Flint River. I had my beloved Lab curled up at my feet,and was letting what little mind I have left just drift along. I had just detected the first scent of autumn in the air even though it is still hot in south Georgia. This was more of a smell than a temperature thing, but I know that fall is right around the corner. As I sat staring at the river, I noticed an old lady fishing on the bank on the opposite side of the river. She was casting her line just as far out in the river as she could throw it. At about the same time,a bass boat eased along the same bank with two men in it running a little trolling motor. Those two guys were throwing their plugs just as close to the bank as possible without getting their lures hung on the stumps and rocks. I thought to myself,"if that isn't a classic definition of the grass always being greener on the other side,I don't know what is".
 At any rate,neither party was catching any fish which made me feel better because I was feeling pretty guilty about being too lazy to put my boat in the water yesterday. It is so pretty down here in South Georgia right now that it almost doesn't seem fair to be allowed to live here and still get to heaven.
 As I was writing this blog, I just received word that we have finally managed to receive another 200 cases of shotgun shells.Y'all can keep your gold bullion. I think that shotgun shells may be a more precious commodity to hoard. I still believe that shotgun shells are short because the ammunition makers refuse to stop making rifle and pistol bullets due to fear and demand for bullets from the buying public.
 I am sure that you are all aware of another mass shooting at the Naval Shipyard near the Capitol yesterday. Once again we will hear the hue and cry for gun control,but you will hear nothing about a cry for reform to the mental health or the judicial systems that enables these tragic events to occur.A good friend of mine sent me another example of our country's wrong headed philosophy on guns when he said," Participating in a gun buy back program because you think that the criminals have too many guns is like having yourself castrated because you think your neighbors are having too may kids".
 Oh well, I am glad that I live in a part of the world where the seasons change. The change rejuvenates and excites me. I'm ready for the fall and quail hunting season!

First dove hunt of the fall

We have a tradition here at Riverview of having a dove hunt for all of our guides during Georgia's first of three doves seasons. The first season always is a short one,opening on Labor Day weekend and only lasting a couple of weeks. As you might imagine, it is generally hot in south Georgia at that time.Well, I participated in that hunt yesterday, and I fear that I am becoming my father.
 I can remember being amazed to hear my Dad tell me that he wasn't sure that he wanted to hunt badly enough to suffer a heat stroke, and he would often pass on the first season. This is another one of those cases where I should have listened to my father. I had enough sense to leave my sweet,old Lab in her pen because I figured the heat would be too much for her. I conveniently forgot that I am almost 64, and had to run around in the 92 degree heat and high humidity picking up my own birds.Phew, I'm glad that I did not take but two boxes of shells with me,or I might have been stupid enough to stay out there !
 Speaking of shotgun shells, I have never seen shotgun shells as difficult to purchase as they have been this summer and fall. I have heard a lot of rumors as to why, but the fact of the matter is we can't get a definite commitment from any of the major ammunition companies as to when they are going to cease making bullets and start producing shotgun shells. We are scurrying around buying 40- 50 cases here and there at retail just to make certain that we have a decent supply on hand for the start of the quail hunting season. We placed our wholesale order in late March, but the delivery date keeps getting postponed for one unbelievable tale or another.
 I have about decided to retire and live off of my life savings. What I will do on the second day, I haven't got a clue yet!

quail habitat

I read an interesting quote the other day by one of our greatest American presidents, Thomas Jefferson who said,"Peace is that brief glorious moment in history when everyone stands around reloading". I liked that a lot, and it kind of reminds me of our state of affairs at the moment.Thanks to our near record setting rainfall this summer, we are breaking out our brush mowers for the first time in several years. Each driver will be issued a compass and machete before heading in to the river bottom courses in case his tractor breaks down. We have waited this late to begin our woods mowing because we have such an abundant hatch of native quail, and did not want to destroy any nests if possible. However, if we do not start now, we are going to make the chicks much more susceptible to predators. It's a bit of a trade off, but we think the time is right to begin.
 We had our first harbinger of fall at the first of this week. The temperature dropped into the mid 60's, and there was almost no humidity in the air. Cader IV and I almost always ride out to the shop together to meet all of the men at 7:00 am each morning. Our dog kennels are only a couple of hundred yards from the gathering area. When we pulled up to the shop about 185 dogs were just barking to beat the band. I turned to one of the men to ask him if he knew what had them so stirred up. He said," Boss, they feel the same thing in the air that you do. They're just getting excited".
 We are all beginning to feel the anticipation, and have picked up the pace a bit here. It really hit me when our first shipment of Beretta Silver Pigeons arrived today. We made the decision to switch from the Ruger as our house guns to the Berettas this year, and will have all new rental shotguns. We figured that we could pay for one new gun this year with gas savings from having to run out to the hunting courses to replace malfunctioning shotguns. Don't get me wrong here. The Ruger is a good shotgun, but ours had gotten old, and Ruger could not replace them with new shotguns in time for the start of the 2013-2014 hunting season.
 I started this blog with a quote, and would like to end it with a quote that every
 According to the Farmer's Almanac, we are going to have a colder than normal fall and winter in the southeast. We are ready for it ! quail hunter can appreciate.One of the great outdoor writers of my lifetime,Robert Ruark, once stated,"You will rarely find a dedicated quail shot who is not a pretty good guy. He has to be a nice guy because he is performing for the benefit of the dogs,himself,and his companions,and all are experts in the detection of fraudulent behavior in the field".

Bird dogs

Well,it's that time of the year when we start filling out our dog rosters with purchases of bird dogs to supplement the ones we have trained here at Riverview. In some parts of the country they are called pointers,setters,shorthairs,etc., but here in the south we simply refer to them as bird dogs. And there is only one bird that we are referring to--the illustrious gentleman Bobwhite quail.
 One of my first of many jobs when I first returned to Riverview was purchasing bird dogs. That lasted until I bought a dog from a lady trainer who was wearing the tightest pair of hunting britches I have ever seen. When I returned to Riverview with the dog, Pop asked me what the dog's name was. When I couldn't remember, he transferred me and gave that job to Mr. Bobby Sharp.Bobby has been retired for years now, and our head dog man,Moss,is doing a great job of dog haggling.
 I love dogs, and feel sorry for anyone who has never known the love of a good pet or hunting dog. It is a very special bond when that pet you love is also a working dog. The first dog that I ever trained was named Bimbo. Well,it would probably be more truthful to say that Bimbo trained me. I was 13 years old, and he was a puppy from a good bloodline.Pop kept 150 acres around the house that he would not allow anyone to hunt on except me and Bimbo. During hunting season, I would jump off the school bus,whistle up Bimbo,grab my trusty 20 gauge single shot, and go quail hunting. Bimbo had two peculiar quirks that I never could fix. If I killed a quail in thick brush, he would go retrieve it every time. If ,however, the bird fell in open ground,he would just sit and stare at me until I picked the bird up for myself. He also only gave me four misses in a row before he would turn around and trot home. Talk about pressure, but Bimbo was a stern critic of my youthful gunning ability.
 One of my favorite bird dog stories also was one of life's great lessons for me. My Dad was one of the greatest wing shots I have ever known. He started letting me hunt quail with him when I was around 11 years old. Pop always had great dogs, and he rarely failed to double on a covey rise. Then he would turn to me and ask,"Did you get one?" to which I would respond,"I dropped one over there." so off the dogs would go looking for a non-existent dead bird. This went on for about two hours when finally Pop leashed the dogs,sat down on a stump,looked at me and said,"Son,there are two things in life that I detest--that's a liar and a sorry bird dog. So I'm fixing to shoot these two sorry dogs that can"t find all of your dead birds."Of course,I confessed promptly and learned a valuable lesson--if you are going to lie,it had better be a very believable lie.
 Hunting season is just around the corner!